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It’s not surprising that Steven Galloway, a writer’s writer, would rely on a quote from another writer to help explain his latest novel. On the phone from his home in Vancouver, the author makes reference to Kurt Vonnegut’s famous quote from Mother Night — “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be” — when describing his take on illusionist and master manipulator Harry Houdini, who plays a central role in the new book, The Confabulist.

Igor Vasiljevic knows how dangerously close he came to dying when beaten and stabbed by two strangers outside a southeast Calgary community centre 21/2 years ago. He’s still feeling the effects of the devastating injuries that caused his heart to stop twice at Foothills Hospital during emergency surgeries that night.

The thin, older man exuded dignified elegance while the short, round one beamed with pride and enthusiasm. They were an unlikely pair, but IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Calgary Mayor Ralph Klein forged a friendship over the 1988 Olympic Games. When Samaranch declared the Calgary Games the best ever, it was also an endorsement of Klein’s efforts to humanize it.

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